What’s Hot

Find Something to Do

I Feel Like...

I Feel Like...

Like What? at places
Where? sometime
When?
What Kind of Food? at places
Where? with a wallet that's
How Full? with other perks including
What Options? to the beat of
What Kind of Music? at places
Where? sometime
When? at places
Where? on
When? aroundwith a glass of
What Kind Of Drink?

Grammy predictions: 2 rap titans will battle it out all night long

Share This Story

When the Grammy trophies are handed out on Sunday night, the battle will be between two rap titans: Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar.

Whereas last year's ceremony featured a high-stakes showdown between Adele and Beyoncé (with Adele taking home more Grammys and basically apologizing to Queen Bey from the stage), this year's battle is between Beyoncé 's husband, Jay-Z, and impressive performer Lamar. They face off in multiple categories, including the night's biggest prize, Album of the Year.

There are also a few surprise guests to the gala, including Childish Gambino, and some familiar names who may, surprisingly, only get a mention or two, such as Lorde and Ed Sheeran.

Here's a rundown of what we think will and shouldhappen during this year's Grammy ceremony.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

In his Dallas concert, Kendrick Lamar confidently proved he is rap's humble ruler

Who will win: It's been a while since an album dominated the year-end best of lists, but Lamar's Damn did that in 2017. It's not that this collection was that much better than his two previous, and stellar, records. It's just yet another excellent effort. For Grammy voters, such consistency will be impossible to ignore.

Who will win: If there's one thing Grammy voters seem to love even more than showing how "with it" they are, it's giving credit to massive commercial successes. No song in history has been streamed more than "Despacito," and it'll win.

Who should win: It wasn't the most streamed, but Jay-Z's "Story of O.J." was arguably the most hotly discussed tune of the year, with only "4:44," where he acknowledges his marital infidelity from the same album, rivaling it. The nominated song drew criticism for lyrics perceived to be anti-Semitic, though Jay-Z defended it by saying the song addresses what he sees as a need for the African-American community to "have a plan" and to "push forward."

BEST NEW ARTIST

Nominees: Alessia Cara, Khalid, Lil Uzi Vert, Julia Michaels, SZA

Who will win: In another strong group in a historically strong category, Cara benefits from being the most established and well-known. That's an odd thing to say about a new-artist category, but this is the Grammys, after all.

El Paso singer Khalid is Texas' next big act

Who should win: It's a tie between Khalid and SZA. Each with monster hits to their name already, these two artists possess a keen ability to cross over from heart-bleeding R&B to pop catchiness. Moving forward, it will be rather exciting to watch each as they easily graduate from the New Artist category into the bigger awards.

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM

Who will win: Sheeran, because he's Ed Sheeran and because he's not nominated for the bigger awards.

Who should win: Kesha's anthemic gospel-pop epic "Pray" was clumsily left out of the Record and Song categories, so this should be hers. Though song-for-song, Del Rey's Lust for Life is the best album on this list.

BEST RAP ALBUM

Who will win: It's a tough one to call, as two approaches could take hold here. Damn is the best rap album, but if it wins the biggest awards, voters could use this as the chance to make it up to Jay-Z, or vice versa.

Who should win: By basic reasoning, Lamar should win this one, but I wouldn't complain if Migos is given this award after the two stars of the night have piled up plenty of other trophies. If the awards were handed out by high school and college-age fans, Migos would win in a landslide. And by the way, another egregious omission of the year is that A Tribe Called Quest's We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service wasn't recognized in this spot.

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM

Nominees: Cosmic Hallelujah by Kenny Chesney, Heart Break by Lady Antebellum, The Breaker by Little Big Town, Life Changes by Thomas Rhett, From a Room: Volume 1 by Chris Stapleton

Miranda Lambert was a hometown star for the entire country-music universe at Off the Rails in Frisco

Who will win: Almost by default, Stapleton will easily win what is the weakest, most pop-leaning country album nominee group at the Grammys in some time.

Who should win: None of them, because without Miranda Lambert's Weight of These Wings (released late in 2016, just inside the eligibility period) even being nominated, this category is laughable in its irrelevance. It contains the finest mainstream country song of the past couple of years, Lambert's "Tin Man," mercifully nominated for Best Country Solo Performance. That a platinum-selling double album by a woman (an extreme rarity) isn't included in this category suggests the current Grammy voters should just leave the country portions of their ballots empty next year.